Centrifugal separating assembly for positioning a layer of a fluid biological product at a selected location

Abstract

A centrifugal separating assembly for separating a fluid biological product into discrete components by centrifugation is disclosed. The assembly includes a first container defining a first cavity adapted to receive a human biological product, the first container having a circular upper wall, a cylindrical sidewall, and a concave shaped bottom wall. The assembly further includes a second container defining a second cavity adapted to receive discrete components. The first container is positioned within the second container, and moveable to a selected position within the second container so that a layer of a fluid biological product will be at a desired location after centrifugation.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A centrifugal separating assembly for separating a fluid biological product into discrete components by centrifugation, the assembly comprising:
 a first container body at least partially defining a first cavity in fluid communication with a second cavity via a common inlet-outlet port; 
 a cap coupled to a top of the first container body, the cap having a threaded portion; 
 a second container body that is configured to receive at least a portion of the first container body therein such that the second container body forms at least one wall of the second cavity, the second container body having a threaded top portion, the first container body disposed to selectively translate relative to the second container body such that the at least one wall of the second cavity is selectively translated so as to selectively adjust a volume of the second cavity, wherein the first container body is selectively translated within the second container body by the threaded portion of the cap engaging the threaded top portion of the second container body, and wherein upon being so engaged rotating the cap moves the first container body within the second container body. 
 
     
     
       2. The centrifugal separating assembly in accordance with  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a plurality of measurement markings on an outside surface of the first container body, each of the plurality of measurement markings disposed to indicate to a user one of a plurality of translation movements of the first container body relative to the second container body that corresponds to a selected predetermined position of a discrete layer of a fluid biological product within the first cavity, and 
 wherein the second container body is made of a transparent material. 
 
     
     
       3. The centrifugal separating assembly in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein:
 the plurality of measurement markings correspond to an amount of rotation of the cap when the threaded portion of the cap is engaged with the threaded top portion of the second container body. 
 
     
     
       4. The centrifugal separating assembly in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the first container body is transparent. 
     
     
       5. The centrifugal separating assembly in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first cavity includes a main cavity portion, a neck portion having a diameter that is less than a diameter of the main portion, and a common inlet-outlet port at a bottom of the neck portion between the neck portion and the second cavity. 
 
     
     
       6. The centrifugal separating assembly in accordance with  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an entry port defined by the cap portion, the entry port adapted to introduce a fluid biological product into the first cavity. 
 
     
     
       7. The centrifugal separating assembly in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first container body is concentric with the second container body. 
 
     
     
       8. A method of separating a fluid biological product into discrete layers by centrifugation, the method comprising:
 providing a centrifugal separating assembly including:
 a first container body at least partially defining a first cavity in fluid communication with a second cavity via a common inlet-outlet port; 
 a cap coupled to a top of the first container body, the cap having a threaded portion; 
 a second container body being configured to receive at least a portion of the first container body therein such that the second container body forms at least one wall of the second cavity, the second container body having a threaded top portion, the first container body disposed to selectively translate relative to the second container body such that the at least one wall of the second cavity is selectively translated so as to selectively adjust a volume of the second cavity, wherein the first container body is selectively translated within the second container body by the threaded portion of the cap engaging the threaded top portion of the second container body, and wherein upon being so engaged rotating the cap moves the first container body within the second container body; 
 
 introducing the fluid biological product into the first cavity; 
 adjusting the cap 
 after introducing the fluid biological product, centrifuging the fluid biological product to separate the fluid biological product into discrete layers. 
 
     
     
       9. The method in accordance with  claim 8 , further comprising:
 identifying a first position of a buffy coat layer, the buffy coat layer being one of the discrete layers of the fluid biological product. 
 
     
     
       10. The method in accordance with  claim 9 , further comprising:
 after identifying the first position of the buffy coat layer, selectively translating the first container body relative to the second container body to selectively adjust a volume of the second cavity. 
 
     
     
       11. The method in accordance with  claim 10 , wherein:
 wherein providing the centrifugal separating assembly includes providing the second container body being made of a transparent material; and 
 selectively translating the first container body relative to the second container body includes rotating a cap portion of the first container body to position a marking on the first container body at a selected position. 
 
     
     
       12. The method in accordance with  claim 10 , further comprising:
 after selectively translating the first container body relative to the second container body, centrifuging the fluid biological product to re-position the buffy coat layer to a second position different than the first position of the buffy coat layer. 
 
     
     
       13. The method in accordance with  claim 12 , wherein:
 the second position of the buffy coat layer is based on the selectively adjusted volume of the second cavity. 
 
     
     
       14. The method in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein:
 the discrete layers includes a plasma layer, a buffy coat layer, and a red blood cell layer. 
 
     
     
       15. The method in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein:
 introducing the fluid biological product comprised introducing the fluid biological product into the first cavity through a port on a top of the cap. 
 
     
     
       16. The method in accordance with  claim 8 , further comprising:
 before introducing the fluid biological product, inserting the first container body within the second container body such that the first container body is concentric with second container body. 
 
     
     
       17. A centrifugal separating assembly, comprising:
 a first container body which defines first cavity at a top portion of the first container, the first cavity having a main cavity portion and a neck portion, the neck portion having a smaller diameter than a diameter of the main cavity portion, the neck portion being below the main cavity portion, a common inlet-outlet port being formed at a bottom of the neck portion; 
 a cap that is configured to attach to a top of the first container body, and which include a threaded portion that does not engage the first container body; 
 a second container body that is configured to receive the first container body therein, and to at least partially define a second cavity under the first container body, wherein the second cavity is fluidically connected to the first cavity through the common inlet-outlet port, the second container body being threaded at a top of the second container body with threads that are configured to engage the threaded portion of the cap; and 
 wherein rotating the cap adjusts a position of the first container body within the second container body to a selected position of a layer of a fluid biological product after centrifugation of the centrifugal separating assembly when containing the fluid biological product. 
 
     
     
       18. The centrifugal separating assembly of  claim 17 , wherein:
 the second container body is transparent; and 
 the first container body comprises location markings on an outside of the first container body which indicate a position of the first container body within the second container body to facilitate movement of the first container body within the second container body to the selected position. 
 
     
     
       19. The centrifugal separating assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the first container body is transparent. 
     
     
       20. The centrifugal separating assembly of  claim 17 , wherein the cap comprises a port through which the fluid biological product is introduced into the centrifugal separating assembly.